From Victim to Victor

Many years ago, I was struggling with why a friend was continuing to destroy their life and not accept the help we offered. I had come to the conclusion that she preferred her disease to health; that she was content in her suffering, convincing others that she’d been slighted in life, basking in the negative attention it brought her. Turning to my bible for help, I came across a story in the book of John, about a crippled man whose life seemed very similar to that of my friend.

This man in John had been an invalid for 38 years and hung out near a pond where healings often took place. When Jesus asked him if he wanted to be made well, he said that he had no one to help him to the pool; that every time he tried to get in, someone would go in before him. Jesus was probably thinking, “If I had a denarius for every time I heard that…!” LOL!

This is a classic case of victim mentality; why wouldn’t his immediate response have been “yes! I want to be well!” Instead, he blamed others for his lot in life, accepting zero responsibility for his own well-being. Jesus could have walked away and left him to his pity party, but instead He healed him and told him to take up his mat and walk. Nowhere else in scripture, that I can find, did Jesus ask permission to heal someone, or ask them if they wanted to be healed, so why this man?

Despite my finite explanation that this man was only making excuses for his life, maybe Jesus recognized that he DID want to be whole but had lost all hope that it could happen. Maybe THAT is why He healed him, to give him hope, and to give hope to all the others who witnessed the healing. This story reminds us that we all experience misfortune, injury and loss, and if left to fester, we could allow these situations to turn us into a victim. Instead, we need to accept the same hope Jesus offered the crippled man, becoming a victor instead of a victim.